NEW YORK ? Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin obviously want to knock each other out.
But unlike the most recent HBO Pay-Per-View main event we witnessed between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev, Alvarez and Golovkin don?t dislike one another. Their long-awaited battle September 16 is strictly business for Kazakhstan?s Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) and Mexico?s Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs).
And they?re certain their highly anticipated middleweight title fight will sell itself, thus there?s no need to manufacture drama before they square off at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
?I don?t have anything personal against him,? Alvarez said earlier this week before a press conference in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. ?There?s nothing really personal against him, even though lately he?s been talking a little bit.?
When told Golovkin had said he ?looked scared,? Alvarez smiled and said through a translator, ?We?ll see. I just wanna prove that I?m better.?
Golovkin, the IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion, and Alvarez have been nothing but cordial toward one another during a four-day press tour this week that took them to London, New York, ESPN?s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, and Los Angeles.
?I feel very comfortable,? Golovkin said. ?I?m not very mad. I understand Canelo. This is business. He knows me. He respects me and I respect him. This is a fight and [to find out] who is the best in the world.
?I?ll be ready 100 percent September 16th. He?ll be 100 percent. This is business. This is a true fight, not game, right now.?
Tom Loeffler, managing director for K2 Promotions, noticed the mutual admiration to which Golovkin referred during this press tour. Loeffler, whose company promotes Golovkin, acknowledged that Golovkin got aggravated last year, when the fight still hadn?t been made.
Otherwise, though, ?There?s no animosity there,? Loeffler said. ?There?s a lot of mutual respect. They worked with each other six years ago. Back then, what Gennady was saying was that it wasn?t a competition. He was helping Canelo, Canelo was helping him. Canelo was young back then, so he has a lot of respect for Canelo.
?There was maybe some frustration last year, when the fight wasn?t made. But there is a lot of elation, a lot of relief, that the fight?s made now. And that?s what he?s looking forward to.?
